Do you have Guiding Principles that drive YOU? Here are OURS!

What are these guiding principles that we are talking about? Well, let’s start by defining what these two words mean to us; guiding and principles. They may have slightly different connotations to you and that’s ok. That’s the beauty (and the curse) of langauge, isn’t it? So, fasten your seatbelt. Here we go!

Guiding [gahyd-ing] verb

We interpret guiding to mean to accompany and show points of interest in order to explain their meaning or significance as it relates to a topic, process or concept.

Principle [prin-suh-puhl] noun

We interpret principles to bethe guiding sense of a fundamental doctrine or tenet forming a distinctive opinion on professional conduct.

As part of the ongoing development of the theviewfromhere we have established four guiding principles that will be the driving force for the development of content offered on this site. Intertwined in each of these principles is a love for life, balance, hard work and especially laughter. We may not always be funny but will do our best to weave some humour into everything we do. Why? Because we all know that laughter is the best medicine.

Each of the following guiding principles aligns with one of the four figures (those little guys in the header) that make up theviewfromhere.

Learn

Who else is going to do it for you? Never stop reading, educating yourself and accumulating information. You will always win if you can take one small thing away from a publication or book or a podcast or a blog (you get the idea). Reading and researching opens you up to new ideas and concepts that you may not have thought of and you’ll end up smarter than the average bear or at least a lot more well rounded.

Accept

Talk is cheap. Telling someone “how to” or being told “how to” is a waste of time. Communication, in the form of real two way interaction (how else, there goofball?), with the people in your life; family, friends, colleagues and your influencers will help you refine your skills and provide you the criticism to fix your mistakes. Let’s face it; you make mistakes. So, do I. That’s how we learn.

Share

Share your ideas, thoughts, strategies and what you learn. Never be afraid to share your dreams (unless they are dirty – we’re not THAT kind of site). You never know what new innovations may come from sharing your ideas or how your ideas may influence others. Who knows, with all the learning and interaction you do you might enlighten someone or even yourself!

Act

And by act we don’t mean be your favourite thespian. Do something instead of thinking about it. Start. Get going. You will learn and grow by taking action. There’s plenty of time to fix it but there’s never enough time to wait to start. If you don’t start how will you know you can get there?

I know, progress can be like navigating a maze (ha, don’t I know it!) and here’s one we created that you can try just for fun.

Click on it! Save it! Print it! TRY IT!

What about the risk? Yes, these principles involve risk.

The risk to you if you don’t act is that you might miss your calling. The risk to you if you don’t accept is that you might never get the valued feedback you deserve. The risk to you if you don’t share is that you might never know if your ideas make any sense. The risk to you if you don’t act is that you might never get to experience the joy of your own ideas coming to fruition.

So, is that enough for you to get going, keep going or to start again? I hope so.

The more you apply your principles listed here the more you will find them and they are the road to immobility and status quo.

If I had to name them I would call them – Fear, Resist, Protect & Inhibit.

No need to waste valuable airtime explaining them – we know what they are. They are all the characteristics of the Luddite principles that have dogged us since the Industrial Revolution.

The more you seek to follow the TVFH principles the more you will see them and they will frustrate and discourage you every time.

The cure is to stick to the right principles and surround yourself with others who do likewise. I have to say i was led into these principles by the example of others and over the years I have been fortunate enough to meet so many “mentors”.

Such a network is important to us all in the journey as it is a form of “self help” that will provide us with a constant source of information, ideas and encouragement that will help us grow in the good principles.

I do believe that between these two poles there is a tipping point that can go either way. I know profiling is not an important concept but when we engage with people we need to establish where they sit on that scale. If they are too far on the wrong side of the fulcrum then they will probably not change – certainly not fast enough. To engage further will drain you and will waste time that would be much better spent on people who are on the right side and who will either help you grow further our allow you the real privilege of helping them grow.

It is not that everyone has to agree with you – it is the source of their viewpoint that matters. Intelligent and informed dialogue grows us all and creates opportunity – opinionated bigotry and protectionism uses up too much valuable oxygen and does nothing to improve the world or the individuals in it.

I think some people call it “Not suffering fools gladly.”

Your maze is daunting but so worth it – I think it teaches us that the path to the result will not be the shortest path of least resistance but it will get you there if you prevail through the right principles. I am sure it is an uphill maze too.

And as for RISK and the good old Lizard – At the end of the day the only real risk is the risk of doing nothing!

Bill, Thank you so much for your insights. You are surely one of those mentors that you speak of. I can feel that especially since I have heard you speak and have always been excited by your enthusiasm.

The thoughts around the maze are way beyond the thought I put into it but makes so much sense. Thank you again for that! Yes, you are right that there is an antithesis to these. There is always something ready to fill the void. The way i see it i would rather lead. lead my life with this type of positivity and respect for myeslf and the people around me instead of constantly fighting agains the current. I think we inherently know, when we meet people, which side of the fulcrum they are on. I know yours. Cheers, man.

Whew, for a second I thought there were two posts here. Somewhat along the same lines as the points you mention, but ultimately treating others with respect, be willing to give of yourself, and never ever quit learning and growing. Always be curious enough to keep you moving forward and don’t be ‘that guy’.

Tell me about it. Well, there’s a trend. The two guys that respond to my blog post are named Bill. Hmmmm. Let’s not read into that. I agree that curiosity is a trait that brings you the positive results and giving of yourself is where the real magic lies. Thanks for stopping by Bill. I do appreciate your “social” ways! You and your pal are certainly #socialgods! Cheers, man!

Thanks Jason and thanks for stopping by. I love the Ryze values. Alignment of ideas and attitude for sure. I have no doubt that you “rock the casbah” for your people and wish you mucho success. ANYTHING that you want to share here is more than welcome.

Curtis, thanks, thanks and thanks! I love to hear stuff like that. I means that some of the hard work is paying off. BTW< you have some good things going at CRASH and I am certainly following along. That's the great thing about social. Let's make a go of it as a team! Hope to talk soon and drop me a line anytime.